Scars and Syrup
by iHeartPi
Summary: Albus deals with the aftermath after Scorpius admits something personal to his Dad. Rated for suggestions of violence and general angsty-ness.


**This is a super short one finished late at night, I started it ages ago and I've decided to finish and put up the ones that are half-finished on my computer. So here it is, I don't own anyone and reviews make me happier than a very happy thing.**

"Scor…?" Albus quietly questioned. "Scor, I'm worried about you…"

If Albus was honest with himself, he was always worried about Scorpius. They were best friends and shared almost everything, but it was the almost that worried him. Albus knew that growing up with a dad like the infamous Draco Malfoy couldn't have been easy, but he liked to delude himself that it wasn't actually all that bad.

"Al, I'm fine. Go to breakfast."

The last thing Albus would describe Scorpius as right now would be fine. He'd met up with his dad last night, getting special permission from one of the school governors to be out of school grounds, and this morning Albus woke to the sight of Scorpius sat bolt upright on his bed, staring into space, his face marked with several long slash marks and bruises.

Albus sat heavily on the bed next to Scorpius, enveloping the blond boy in his arms, desperately trying to reach his best friend somehow. He didn't like silent, distant Scor. He didn't like feeling helpless and unable to help his best friend. But mainly, he didn't like Scor so heart-wrenchingly unhappy.

"What happened Scor? Why did he do this?"

Scorpius' face was pressed against Albus' chest now and he cracked into silent sobs. Albus could feel his friend's tears soaking into his shirt, and he wanted nothing more than to make them stop, any way he possibly could.

"I-I… told him… I was gay." Scorpius choked out, his face still buried in Albus' shirt. "And he… he told me that I was worthless."

Albus wanted to kill Draco Malfoy. No, death would be too easy a get-out. Albus wanted to torture him, just like he tortures his son. Although Scorpius had never told him outright before, Albus knew that his best friend was gay, because, well, wasn't it obvious?! So the idea that the mighty Draco Malfoy was under any illusions was either lies or just demonstrated how little he knew about his son.

"Scorpius, he's wrong. He's so unbelievably wrong tha-" Albus cut his own words short, aware of his friend shaking his head, his shoulders still shaking with long overdue tears.

"He's not wrong. I mean, I'm only good for my money and my blood and it's not like I'm going to give him pureblood blond grandkids, am I?" The bitterness and anger in Scorpius' words were more than evident, but what was more worrying was how it sounded like Scorpius believed he wasn't worth more than wealth and blood.

Albus couldn't see how he could show Scorpius how much more than that he was. He wanted to show Scorpius that it was far more important that he was the kindest person that Al knew, that he consistently got the best Potions grades, even that Scorpius could fit more Every Flavour Beans in his mouth than anyone else in their dormitory. It was those things that meant so much more than his Gringotts account and his Malfoy lineage. But it isn't like Albus can make up for the chunks of his son's soul that Draco Malfoy stole by shunning and hitting him, certainly not in one morning before breakfast.

"Scorpius? Do you think I'm friends with you because of your money? Or worse, your blood?" Albus pulled away from the hug to look pointedly at his friend. "Or Rose and Louis? Lorcan and Lysander? Even James tolerates you, and believe me, that's a compliment." The last comment make Scorpius smile slightly behind his tears, because he knew that Albus always fought his case with his brother, and was finally making headway. "Heck, we're a bunch of half-bloods and blood traitors, are you telling me that that's all you see when you talk to all of us?"

"W-well no." Scorpius conceded, wiping one of his cheeks with the back of his hand.

"Then you must know that you're more than Master Malfoy, heir to blood and money, right?" Al wiped Scorpius' other cheek, the one that he'd left wet, then wiped the tears from his hand onto Scorpius' bedcovers. "You're my best friend, and believe me, your dad is the only one who cares you're gay. The rest of us figured it out years ago." Al grinned, managing to coax another small smile out of Scorpius.

"Now let's go to breakfast before the only thing left is porridge. You know I can't stand porridge." Albus extricated himself from his friend and stood up, offering his hand to Scorpius to help him up.

"Thanks Al." Scorpius said, taking his best friend's hand and getting up with him, dropping his friend's hand once he was on his feet to pick up his bag. "We'll keep our fingers crossed for pancakes, particularly if they have syrup left. You can't beat syrup."

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